It's been a while since I updated my condition here, so, here goes...
The surgery went well, and other than pulling a groin muscle on the last day in the hospital, I got home with no other problems. I had to get a lift chair to get my ass up and down, and actually slept in it for a few days. After a few months of recovery, and taking all the meds and health suppliments recommended by the doc, the pain of the surgery went down, and the back pain returned.
The doc said that there were three possible outcomes to the surgery, either I would get better, stay the same, or get worse. I guess I stayed the same. Now I have two hollow "bolts" where my L4-L5 disc used to be, with flexible rods and screws. The pain is exactly the same as working a full day, and getting home before the surgery. Quite depressing...
The quality of life was getting pretty bad there for a while, and listening to my 6 year old daughter describe me as "grumpy" got me motivated to fix the problem in any way I could. Watching the waif and daughter go out shopping on the weekends, and leaving me at home because I can't take the ride...
So I met with the family doc last year and told him everything I was going through, and that something had to change. We had the MRIs, X-rays, and every other test, and no one could tell me exactly where and what the problem was. All I know is, the pain is like someone hit me in the lower back with a 2x4, constantly. Hard to sleep more than a couple hours without waking up and changing position, and hard to get to sleep. Lots of leg craps, and depression.
He recommended we try a few different pain meds to see if any of them actually gave me relief. First, we tried Oxycontin. Nothing but a headache. Next we tried Morphine. They were like tic tacs. No reliefe at all, even the strong ones. Doc says some people Morphine does not help. Lucky me... Next we tried Percocet. Nada. No relief. Then Savella. Big time rash. No relief. Then he put me on a Fentanal patch. I put the patch on at 9pm, and that was the first night I actually slept all night without waking up in over 6 years. When I woke up, the pain was GONE. Hydrocodone dulled the pain, but this stuff made it completely gone. A day later I started a PT program, and dropped 35 lbs like it was a rucksack. Three months later I was 35lbs lighter and sleeping like a teenager. Awesome. I have been on the Fentanal patch for a year now, and the pain is back, but nothing like it was. I can still function, and the weight is still off. I still do the PT program (walking with 5lb-10lb dumbells for 3-5 miles @ 3.2-4mph) It does not stress out my legs and does not stress the back like jogging. Best part was, I was able to resume life with the wife and daughter, and am no longer described as "grumpy" by the most important girl in my life.
The doc put me on the 50mcg patch every 72hours with Cymbalta 30mg every night, and Gabapentin 300mg 3x a day. This worked for me, and made me feel like a normal person for a year now. Not saying this will work for everyone, but might be an option for those with chronic pain like me. I plan on getting in touch with the doc and doing another series of MRI and X-ray, just to see if anything has changed back there, and to make sure the screws and rods are okay. GROG